Loss Shared
by thallata
Summary: Robin is worried that Zatanna isn't dealing with the loss of her father, and he thinks an exciting mission is just the thing to help her work through her feelings. Now he just has to get Batman to agree.
1. Robin's Problem

Robin kept glancing over at Zatanna out of the corner of his eye. He was sparring with KF, but even with his attention divided he was able to fend off the clumsy speedster's attacks. Robin was worried about Zatanna; since Zatara had donned the helmet of Fate she had scarcely said a word. Batting aside a quick but underpowered jab from Kid Flash and flipping out of range, Robin racked his brain for some way to try and help her.

When Bruce had helped Dick become Robin, he had known that bringing his parent's killer to justice would help Dick deal with their loss better than empty condolences would. Granted, Batman wasn't the most stable parental figure around, but in his own way he tried. But Dick could hardly offer to help her arrest Dr. Fate… For one, he was one of the good guys… And KF said that if you hurt Fate, the person whose body it was suffered, so taking out aggression by fighting him was a no go…

Robin was so wrapped up in his thoughts that Kid Flash not only managed to solidly hit him, but to knock him down. The air whooshed out of his lungs as he hit the ground with a thud. The buzzer sounded for the first of the 3 falls in their match.

He lay on his back while Wally stared at him in amazement before strutting around the sparring room doing a victory dance.

"Ha ha, Rob, not so good against the speed champ huh? I just took down the big ol' Boy Wonder!" he crowed.

"Robin's head was not in the game," Aqualad pointed out.

"Yeah, he was clearly distracted the whole fight, but still almost managed to kick your sorry butt," Artemis jeered.

"I know you know this Robin; neglecting your situational awareness in a fight is a good way to end up dead," Black Canary scolded.

Robin sighed and jumped up. She was right. He shouldn't let anything distract him. Batman never let anything get between him and the mission… He always made it look so easy.

"Sorry Canary, it won't happen again," Robin muttered, looking down at the floor. Right, remember what Batman taught you, focus. Deal with everything else after. Remember to be happy.

Robin nodded and returned to the edge of the ring and waited for Kid Flash to stop showboating. Deciding that would take too long he drawled, "Yeah, I was distracted by your ugly face KF. This time I'll keep my eyes closed."

"Why you…" Wally grumbled before rushing towards Robin.

Robin let out his signature laugh as he danced away from KF's telegraphed blows. There was no question Kid Flash was fast. What he wasn't, was good when he was up against a skilled martial artist. Just to goad him further, Robin did actually close his eyes as he launched into a volley of kicks and followed by a handspring; he managed to land more than half of them. Laughing more, he opened his eyes and somersaulted onto Wally's shoulders.

Kid Flash actually growled as he swung at Robin, who responded by grabbing both of KF's wrists.

"Now what," Kid Flash demanded as he struggled to free his hands.

"Now this," Robin responded with a smile. It had taken him a week to master this move, and he was justifiably proud of it. With a twist and a change in his center of balance, he flipped KF onto his face as he sprang off his shoulders. Kid Flash hit the mat hard and it buzzed the end of the match.

"Nice!" Artemis shouted as she punched the air.

"How do you do keep winning, you don't even have super powers?" Wally demanded.

"Practice," Robin smirked.

"Wally, your super-speed is useless in a fight if you allow your enemy to force you into acting without thinking. No matter how fast the blow, it won't matter if you can't connect," Black Canary explained.

"Well, I still kicked your butt in round one," Wally grumbled.

"Well, only because Robin spent the whole fight staring at—" M'gann started to say.

"I let you win the first one as my Christmas present to you," Robin quickly broke in. He offered Wally a hand up from the ground.

"Thanks Rob, it's just what I wanted," Wally grinned as he grasped Robin's hand. With a jerk he tried to drag Robin down to the mat with him.

With a smile Robin quickly twisted his wrist out of the glove, and KF hit the ground again with a thud. Once more the buzzer sounded.

"And that's best out of three," Robin drawled as he scooped his glove out of Wally's hand.

All right, mission accomplished, Robin thought. He walked to the sidelines and let Aqualad take on Miss Martian. He glanced around the room for Zatanna, but she was gone. Unconsciously he moved until he was leaning against the wall in a shadow.

Robin sighed and put his glove back on. He needed to be less obvious, but he couldn't help it. The rest of the team thought she just needed space, but he knew better. One of the biggest reasons why Batman had taken Robin on as a partner at 9 was because he knew that letting the grief fester was a mistake. Action was better than talking, and it was certainly better than sitting alone thinking about your loss. Just look what happened to Bruce; he was distant and removed from almost everyone. He didn't have friends, he had colleagues.

That's what he needed to do; he needed to get a mission for Zatanna. Something that would let her work through what she was feeling. He had read that magic was tied to emotions, so it was important that she not repress them. He would talk to Bruce about it tonight.

While he was deep in thought Miss Martian had won her bout and Superboy had beaten Artemis. Not really surprising that the two tanks had come out on top for hand-to-hand combat, but it would be interesting to see what happened when Black Canary finally introduced weapons to their drills. He liked having the chance to spar against people in such a different power-class; it was good practice for the insanity Gotham offered.

Canary said, "Good job everyone, that's enough for today. I'll see you all for practice on Tuesday."

Robin pushed off from the wall and started walking back to his room. It wasn't long before Wally caught up to him.

"Way to pull a Batman back there. Hiding in the all-concealing shadows and sneakin' out."

"I wasn't hiding, and I walked out. No sneaking, no skulking and no ninja," Robin bit out. He hadn't been hiding had he? Damn it, he had to get better about that. He had enough issues related to secrets without the team thinking he snuck around all the time.

"Whoa, sorry Rob… Didn't think you'd get so worked up about it…" Wally apologized.

"It's just, I'm not Batman. He's… he's not me," Robin responded, "… Sorry. I'm just really not feeling the aster today." He unlocked his room and waved Wally inside. Wordlessly he offered his supply of Alfred's cookies to his friend

"It's cool, it's cool…" KF smiled as he took five, "So letting me win was my present huh? And here I thought I won cause you were so busy staring at Zattaaaaaaaaana." Wally made a kissy face with his mouth full of cookie.

"Argg. It's not like that. I just feel like, I can help her with what she's going through. She hasn't really opened up since her dad became Dr. Fate, and it's eating at her," Robin said.

"Well… you could, you know, talk to her about it," Wally offered as he took another handful of cookies.

"No, I can't. Batman said I couldn't tell anyone about my real life. And that makes it really hard to help someone open up to you."

"You told me anyway, and he hasn't found out about that," Wally pointed out.

"No, I told you before he said I couldn't. And he knows I told you," Robin countered.

"Dude, really? But he hasn't threatened me... Does that mean he trusts me?" Wally asked amazed. So much of the time it seemed like no one trusted him, not even the Flash.

"Well, technically what he said was that he trusted **me** to make this choice, in so far as he trusted anyone… But yeah, I guess he trusts you. At least he doesn't not trust you, I think? It's hard to tell with Batman, for all I know he's going to mind-wipe you tomorrow."

"Err… close enough," Wally paused to eat yet another cookie and switched the subject back to Zatanna, "You could use the old 'my friend' ploy. Like, 'My friend Rick.'"

"No, that's not going to work… I've been thinking about it, and I think what she needs is a chance to work through her feelings. By kicking ass on a mission," Robin said.

"Uh… I don't think girls deal with stuff that way," Wally hedged.

"Artemis does," Robin countered.

"Well, yeah, of course **she** would. I meant normal girls."

"Well, I'm still going to bring it up to Batman tonight. He has… experience with loss," Robin

Wally was speechless for a moment as he remembered that for all his cavalier attitude and mocking, Dick had suffered more in his 13 years than anyone else he knew. He couldn't imagine that he would be doing half so well if his parents, Barry and Iris and everyone all died right in front of him. Whenever he thought about it, he was amazed that Robin always seemed so happy.

"Well, good luck with that," Barry said as he grabbed the last of the cookies, "If you need anything, I'm here for you Rob."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks Wally, it means a lot to me," Robin said.

"Well, you know, what are friends for," KF responded, punching Rob on the arm.

Robin smiled at his friend, and restrained himself from hitting back. His comm buzzed and he picked it up.

"Robin, meet me in the cave in 15 minutes," Batman growled without preamble. Robin nervously gulped, Bruce sounded angrier than usual. He hoped that didn't mean the Joker was loose again, that always ended poorly for everyone.

"Roger," Robin responded and signed off, "Well KF, it looks like I have to get going."

"Good luck with the Bat," Wally said as they left Robin's room, "I should probably get home too… I have a paper I have to write that's due tomorrow. I guess I should read the book first." Wally nervously rubbed the back of his head as he thought about all the stuff he was going to have to get done tonight.

"I'll never understand why all you speedsters always put everything off till the last minute," Robin exasperatedly responded. He paused then asked, "What book?"

"The Time Machine… I'm gonna guess it's about a time machine," KF said as they reached the room with the teleporters.

"Well… among other things. Like all utopia stories, it's more of a societal commentary than anything else. But it's pretty short so you have a shot at finishing it. Location L0.01," Robin waved as he headed into the mouth of the tube.

"Dude, wait, what?" Wally asked incredulously as the transporter began to glow.

"Batman made me read it. Later," Robin answered as he disappeared from the headquarters.

Most of the time Batman insisted that Robin teleport to Gotham proper and then make his way to the cave, but he only had 15 minutes so he had 'ported directly there. The location was obviously secret, and Batman had only authorized Dick, Superman and Wonder Woman to be able to teleport there at all. To say Bruce had trust issues was something of an understatement.

Dick stepped out of the tube and made his way to the computer. That was where Batman spent most of his time while he was at home. Sure enough, a large black shadow loomed in front of the screens. It was amazing the amount of menace that Batman projected even when no one was around to see it.

Without turning around, Batman growled, "You have 5 minutes to review contingency plan 'Murder of Crows.'"

Robin pulled the file open on his glove display and started reading. It looked like it was a new one, something Batman had just created. Murder of Crows covered the eventuality where the Scarecrow's fear toxin was combined with Venom. Robin cringed as he considered the possibilities. Batman hypothesized that this new toxin would result in crazed super powered bystanders. He even suggested that the stresses would likely result in cardiac arrest in those affected. Robin checked his gas mask supply, and restocked his fear toxin antidote, just in case.

Robin looked up when he heard the engine of the Batmobile. He sighed and wondered why Batman couldn't ever just tell him it was time to go. As he ran to the car he grabbed a handful of shrunken, just in case. He jumped into the car as the roof slid closed over his head. Batman paused momentarily for Dick to buckle his seatbelt before peeling out and speeding towards Gotham.


	2. Batman's Solution

In my hurry to upload my first story, I forgot to note that I don't own any of these characters.

In this chapter, Robin and Batman take on the Scarecrow, and Robin has an actual conversation with the Caped Crusader.

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><p>Robin wrestled with himself for which question he wanted to ask first. Finally he settled on the mission-critical one; the team and Zatanna would have to wait.<p>

"Has the Scarecrow deployed the new toxin yet?" Robin asked.

"No. Catwoman gave me a tip, which led to some crates that Bane has been shipping into the city. The lab has been set up, but he hasn't had time for mass production yet."

"So what's the game plan?"

"We stop Scarecrow. We confiscate the Venom and Toxin," Batman gruffly responded.

"You sound kind of disgruntled," Robin hesitantly said.

"I don't. Like. Being. Played. And someone has been stringing us along since the 4th of July. Give me a _rational_ use for the Venom-toxin," he demanded of Robin.

Robin thought about it as they raced towards the city-center. While creating terror could be useful in certain scenarios, creating hallucinating fearful berserkers was of limited use. And while the Scarecrow might cause hysteria for its own sake, Bane was all about the bottom line. In fact, there was only one thing he could think of that Bane would get out of this.

"Distraction," he said with confidence.

"Yes. Misdirection. When this is unleashed we, and the entire JLA, will be trying to save those people. And something else will disappear," Batman seethed, thinking of the data and samples from Star Labs. He had followed the tracer in the case, but the trail dead-ended in an alley. He suspected that whomever had the Star-ro sample now had teleported out while the JLA was dealing with the apparent loss of everyone under the age of 18. Frustrated, Batman ground his teeth and tightened his grip on the wheel.

"You think this is connected to the group who's been fronting the Injustice League?" Robin asked.

"Why else would Bane work with Scarecrow. Crane is many things, but rich isn't one of them. Someone set this up."

They drove in silence through the heart of town, and off towards the warehouse district. Batman waited for Robin to ask the obvious question. His pupil was smart; shortly Robin asked, "Is this going to be a trap?"

Batman almost smiled as he responded, "Probably."

"So, we're going to rain on their parade?"

Batman's only response was to bare his teeth in what was the second most sinister grin Robin had ever seen.

* * *

><p>Robin threw his last shuriken at the back of the remaining goon dressed like the Scarecrow. He followed it up with a blow to the back of his head and was rewarded when the mook stayed down. He unmasked the prone body, but this one wasn't the real deal either. Robin sighed as he zip-tied his wrists to a pole and left him to sleep until the police got here.<p>

"Batman, no sign of the Scarecrow," Robin murmured into his earpiece.

Batman was mopping up on the floor above where Scarecrow had gotten a chance to release some of his new toxin into a room full of hostages. They had split up once it become obvious that the filters were effective, but the antidote was of limited use. Robin had gotten to take on 15 scarecrows, and so far he had accounted for 13 of them.

"Busy. Keep looking," Batman grunted.

Robin carefully checked the cavernous room to make sure he hadn't missed anything before he moved onto the hallway. On the way he recovered a few of his shuriken. He still had half his smoke pellets and the tazer, so he should be ok to take on two guys. It's not like the Scarecrow was any good at fighting, as long as he kept himself fear-toxin-free he'd be fine.

They had started upstairs in an administrative area that had been converted to a lab, and Robin had already cleared the thankfully empty storage area. All that was left was the first floor offices. It was easy to clear the first few rooms with their open doors, but at the end of the hallway, there were two closed doors. Robin paused, crouching under the window, debating on the best angle of attack.

While he waited, the shadows in the hallway shifted slightly and Batman was there. Robin smiled up at him, and pointed at the two closed doors. Batman nodded and kicked down the right-hand door. The splintered door flew inward and landed on someone with a meaty thud. The left door bust open, and Robin immediately flew into action. He swept the scarecrow's legs out from under him and punched him in the solar plexus. Robin giggled slightly as the goon collapsed; all his attention was guy in front of him, so he was completely surprised when another scarecrow jumped up, this time with a gun.

Two years ago Robin would have hesitated at the sight of the gun. One year ago, Batman would have responded to the threat first. With smile, and no hesitation Robin released the shuriken he had been holding and knocked the gun out of his hand. He followed it up with a kick for good measure and the scarecrow crumpled. Quickly he secured both of them, and stood back up. He heard the rustle of Batman's cape as he walked back into the hallway. Stepping back Robin let Batman have the unmasking rights.

The first was yet another henchman, but the one with the gun was Dr. Crane. Batman made a pleased noise, and stood up as the Scarecrow struggled against the bonds.

"How did you get out of that room alive?" Crane demanded.

"Your new toxin still needs some work," Batman growled to the Scarecrow.

Batman enjoyed watching the Scarecrow cower back from him. If any of those hostages had died, Batman would be taking it out on the Scarecrow. Crane actually whimpered as under Batman's glare.

"Who are you working for?" Batman demanded in his most menacing tone, leaning in towards Crane.

"Wha-What makes you thi-thi-think I'm working with anyone?" Crane stammered as he cowered as far from Batman as he could get.

"You can't afford a setup like this. Someone. Paid. For. This," Batman growled.

"Uh-uh-uh," Crane swallowed nervously.

"Who?" Batman yelled, pulling back his fist.

"Luthor!" The Scarecrow screamed as curled into as much of a ball as his restraints allowed.

Satisfied, Batman stood up and turned to leave. He nodded at Robin, who also knew the significance of Luthor's involvement. Something big was coming.

"You can't leave me here in the dark!" Crane screamed as the dynamic duo walked away. The police would be half an hour, but Robin didn't feel even a little guilty about leaving the Scarecrow all trussed up.

"So, will the people exposed to the new gas be ok?" Robin asked as they headed back up to the lab section.

"Maybe. Star Labs is working on it."

Edging past the support column that the 5 hostages were strapped to, they started going through the lab. Thankfully the poor people didn't seem as deformed as someone who had been exposed to the Blockbuster-Venom. Wordlessly Batman pointed to laptop on the lab bench as he started to collect the canisters of Venom and fear-gas.

As Robin connected his glove computer and began downloading the hard-drive he asked, "So… what are we going to do with all that Venom?"

Batman's cryptic response was, "The same thing Luthor was going to."

Accepting that he wasn't going to get a better answer, Robin concentrated on his task to make sure he didn't miss anything on the computer.

10 minutes later they finished loading the materials to make the Venom-toxin into the Batmobile. It had a surprisingly large trunk, as many a criminal had found out on their way to one of Batman's patented high altitude interrogations.

Jumping into his seat in the car, Robin reclined as much as the 5-point harness would let him. Seconds later Batman slid into the drivers seat and they headed back to the cave.

After they had been driving for a few minutes, Robin decided now was as good a time as any to try talking to Batman.

"So, now that you're more gruntled… I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

Batman glanced dubiously at his protégé. Dick knew that he wasn't good at talking.

"You can try," he said, using his Wayne voice to seem approachable then his usual of not-at-all.

"Well, I'm… err… I… Zatanna…" Robin trailed off. This was harder then he thought… Batman, was just so, Batman. Even when he wasn't.

"Try pretending you're talking to Alfred," Bruce suggested in a more gentle voice than anyone would expect to come from the Dark Knight. He didn't want Richard to be so afraid of him; they needed to be able to talk to each other. A partnership built on rocky communication didn't work well.

Dick sighed and closed his eyes. He imagined himself in the cave, talking to Alfred while Bruce was at the computer.

"I'm worried about Zatanna," Robin stated with somewhat more confidence, "Her dad basically disappeared from her life, and she hasn't been doing anything besides brooding in the cave. I've talked to the team, and they say she's been quiet and withdrawn all month. I think she needs to get out, get back to life."

"What did you have in mind, Master Richard?" Batman asked in a passable impression of Alfred's voice.

Robin grinned as he answered, "I think she needs to come out with the team, needs to deal with her feelings. I think she needs a sense of purpose again. A lot of people say that if mages hold onto strong feelings, it can warp their magic and eat them alive. I won't let that happen to her."

"And I assume you have tried talking to the young lady in question?"

"Well… no. I want to talk to her. You know that I know what she's going through, but…" Robin trailed off again.

"But I said you have to keep secrets from your team," Batman said in his usual gravely voice.

"Yeah," Robin sighed.

"You agreed to that condition before you joined," the Dark Knight pointed out.

"Yes, but it's still not fair to the rest of the team," Robin argued.

"Hh. And how many other people on that team are keeping secrets at least that damaging?" Batman countered.

"All of them but Wally maybe Kaldur. And Zatanna," he admitted, "But that doesn't help them trust me…"

"The team trusts you because they think your secrets are my fault. Wally trusts you. And because of that I didn't take steps when you told me Kid Flash knew your identity. I didn't take steps when he started combing through articles about you and Bruce Wayne. I didn't take steps when he was trying to raise suspicions about Wayne during the mission debriefing," Batman growled.

"Yeah, he's going a little far. I've talked to him about it."

"Good…" Batman paused and added, "There is a mole in Mount Justice. And until we take care of that I can't let you tell Zatanna about your parents. It's too easy to trace backwards from there."

Batman watched Robin slouch a little further down in his seat at this news. He knew secrets weren't easy. But unlike the other members of the Justice League, so much of his advantage was due to the aura of fear and secrecy he cultivated. If people lost the fear of Batman, he was just a man. But still, he felt uncharacteristically guilty as he drove back to the cave.

Robin was right; Zatanna needed help. He had tried talking to Dr. Fate. He had even offered to wear the helmet for a time, so Zatara could visit his daughter, but Fate had not accepted. He had tried talking to the girl himself, but while he could relate to Richard, he did it mostly as Bruce Wayne. It didn't help that Zatanna was too scared of him to say more than a few words. And he was fairly certain that she blamed him at least in part for her father's actions.

Batman didn't get the sense that Zatanna was making any progress in her sessions with Black Canary either. Maybe Robin was right, she needed a goal to focus on. The next project he had planned for the team could certainly use extra manpower, especially someone that he was certain wasn't the traitor.

"You're right. I'll include her on the next mission," Batman eventually decided.

"Yes!" Robin cheered, and then reined himself in a bit to add, "I mean, thanks Batman."

His only response was a grunt as Batman turned his attention to the hairpin turns leading up to the cave entrance. He was actually glad Robin had talked with him; Bruce knew he wasn't good with people, but Dick made him want to try. And it was always rewarding to make him happy.

Bruce was determined that Dick wouldn't end up like him, and he would do anything he could to help Dick have a more or less normal childhood. He clenched his jaw as he pulled into the cave. The mole was going to pay for endangering the few friendships Dick had been able to make.

The car came to a stop and Robin happily jumped out. As Robin stepped away from the Batmobile and stretched, he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.

Batman squeezed his shoulder and said, "I'll have that mission for your team in a day or two. I need to set something up with the Justice League first… You did a good job tonight. And, if you need to talk to me about anything else, I'm here."

Dick grinned so widely, he think his face almost split in half. Impulsively he did a cartwheel, grabbed the sandwich Alfred was holding and rushed off to get changed for bed. He should be able to get five hours of sleep before it was time for school.

Alfred and Bruce watched Richard inhale the sandwich and dash upstairs to the manor.

"I'm pleased to see young Master Richard is in such high spirits at such a late hour," Alfred remarked to his employer.

"I told him that Zatanna could come on the next mission," Batman wryly answered.

"Has Master Richard met a nice young lady? Perhaps we should have her to the cave for tea."

"He's a little young for that isn't he?" Bruce asked with a worried look.

"Nonsense sir, he's 13, the perfect age for young love to blossom," Alfred replied, having years of practice at keeping the smile off his face. He did so enjoy making Bruce uncomfortable when it came to feelings.

"Hmm," was all Batman said as stalked off to the computer to go over the data they had retrieved from the Scarecrow.

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><p>Thanks for reading! As ever feedback is welcome.<p>

Coming up next, Young Justice gets their new mission, and no one but Robin is happy about it.


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